Jones is back, but not 100 percent

AP Photo"It's being able to manage the pain and the swelling," said Kevin Jones of his return this week. "I probably won't be 100 percent this year."

ALLEN PARK -- Kevin Jones might be completely healed, but he is not completely healthy.

The Detroit Lions running back is expected to make his first appearance of the season during Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jones, who is returning from Lisfranc surgery on his left foot, could get anywhere from 15 to 25 snaps in the game. A final determination on his availability likely will be made before game time.

"I'm optimistic," Jones said.

The 2-0 Lions are 6.5-point underdogs to the struggling 0-2 Eagles, who lost 20-12 to Washington on Monday night.

While his foot has mended completely, Jones said he doesn't feel 100 percent healthy.

"I'm probably not going to feel that way all year," he said after Wednesday's practice. "I'll fight through most of it, it's being able to manage the pain and the swelling. I probably won't be 100 percent this year. It takes a year to be totally 100 (percent) and I don't feel 100, but I feel good."

Jones underwent the surgical procedure last December and his recovery came at such a rapid pace that Detroit's medical staff -- and the surgeon who performed the procedure -- have cleared him to play.

The Lions, who have the worst-ranked rushing attack in the NFC, are expected to get some extra punch in their ground game with Jones back in the lineup.

"That does nothing but boost us on offense," quarterback Jon Kitna said. "It's not like you're adding a guy who hasn't been in it. He was starting to hit his stride last year and he helps in the passing game and the running game.

"We feel pretty good about the guys we have back there, but it adds a guy who is a pretty dynamic talent in this league."

Part of the reason the Lions are rated so low -- the rankings are based solely on total yardage -- is because they haven't run the ball much. Tatum Bell is averaging a respectable 4.2 yards per attempt, but he has only carried it 24 times in two games. Also, Brian Calhoun sprung a big 17-yard gain in overtime to help spark Detroit's victory over the Vikings last week.

Which is why the Lions say they aren't too worried about their running attack.

"I think you guys are concerned about it, I'm not. The media talks about it, but we don't really address it," Kitna said. "Check the defenses we're playing. If they're going to let us throw the ball for 350 yards, we're going to do it. That's the kind of offense we're built to be, so if teams want to play the run against us and let us throw for 350 yards, we'll do that. If you want to let us run the football and play the pass, we'll do that. We don't care how we win it, we just want to win it.

"We're not really concerned with what everybody tells us what we have to do to win football games, we'll do what we need to do to win football games."

If Jones plays on Sunday, it will be his first NFL game in his hometown of Philadelphia.

"I think Kevin is an explosive player," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "I don't want to take anything away from the backs that are playing right now, but Kevin is an explosive player, he'd be coming home, and I'm sure he'd be very excited about that."

The addition of Jones to the backfield will give the Lions more tackle-breaking ability when running through the interior of the line.

"He's going to come down and hit you," Lions center Dominic Raiola said. "He has that combination of speed and power."

"I think it's great, but I hope people don't put high expectations on him early because he's coming back from serious surgery. His ability gives us another threat," tackle Jeff Backus said. "He's a hard, tough, downhill 'I'm going to challenge you to stop me' runner. If he feels challenged, he's not going to try to run by you, he'll run through you."

LIONS NOTES
Injury updates: Tight end Dan Campbell (elbow) did not practice Wednesday and Lions coach Rod Marinelli said his status is day to day. Running back T.J. Duckett (ankle) also was held out of practice and might miss his second consecutive game.